3 ms·
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/toxic-chemical-found-oakland-mcclymonds-high-school-campus-closed/ https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/toxic-che
by uoaei 3y ago
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/toxic-chemical-found-oakland-mcclymonds-high-school-campus-closed/ https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/toxic-chemical-fou...
> The Oakland Unified School district announced the temporary closure of the McClymonds to test for the chemical tricloroethylene (TCE), which was found in groundwater under the campus.
> "This is West Oakland and so there is a history of environmental injustice, of racial injustice that happens in this community. So these are places where there are leaks, there are dumps, there are things like that that are not healthy for our community," said Jumoke Hinton Hodge, Oakland Board of Education District 3 Director.
> McClymonds has recently seen a handful of students and former students develop cancer, including the high-profile cases Darryl Aikens, a McClymonds football player who died of leukemia a month after graduating in 2017, as well as 2018 graduate Ramone Sanders, who died of cancer last fall. Sanders was playing football at Laney College when he broke his leg and it was discovered he had bone cancer that spread to his lungs.
- dekhn 3y agoCancer has a fairly high incident rate in the general public, so anecdotes about people getting cancer due to industrial solvents is often suspect. Most observations can be explained by a combination of base rates, and social determinants of health.
- culi 3y agoThe link between TCE and kidney cancer has already been very well established though. The Parkison's is just a cherry on top. If we know this place is contaminated, then we know there's increased risk of cancer. Full stop
- uoaei 3y agoTwo extremely athletic high-school-age people die within two years of each other of mysterious cancers, with an obvious presence of cancer-causing chemicals, and you want to pretend that cancer statistics that are heavily weighted toward the older and more obese somehow have any relevance here? Honestly I am quite disgusted at this take. How many readers want to bet this take is informed by more than a little implicit racial bias, these being Black men at a primarily Black high school in a primarily Black neighborhood?
- dekhn 3y agoWell, I was trained as a scientist and medical researcher and did my phd thesis on cancer drugs. One thing you learn is that many people see patterns in cancer that are better explained by random numbers. See this doc, including the section "Some important points to consider". https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/understanding-cancer-risk/cancer-clusters.html https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/understanding-... You can be disgusted all you want but I think you're making an error.